The Vampire Diaries Fans Panic Because of Game of Thrones?

There is a suggestion circulating that The Vampire Diaries and other TV show fans worry about their main characters because of Game of Thrones. The HBO show has gotten so used to killing off the main characters without much warning that other show runners could consider doing the same. However, it is not as simple as that.

First of all, those who have read the Songs of Ice and Fire series will know the outcome of many of the main characters. Most knew that Ned Stark was going to be executed at the end of the first season, and his wife and son would meet their maker at the end of the third season—or at least somewhere around then. The show runners have no choice but to kill off the main characters because that is the way the books are written. Fans will also know the deaths coming up, and can Google them if they really need to.

That is not the same for shows like The Vampire Diaries. While the vampire hit show is based off a series of books, the show has gone in a completely different direction. The only real links to the books is names of the characters like Elena Gilbert and the Salvatore brothers. The descriptions and their individual storylines are so different that the show may as well have been called something different with new characters. Many other shows are not even based on the books.

The audiences have no idea how story lines will play out from one week to the next. So is that really leading to fans of The Vampire Diaries and other shows really panicking because of Game of Thrones? Of course not! Shows before this fantasy one have killed off main characters, and the TV shows have survived. How did Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans react at the end of the fifth season when Buffy was killed off, and there was no idea how the gang would bring her back. That was one show that made death clearly the end before that.

The writers of the hit vampire show have also previously shown that death does not mean the end of a character. Alaric is coming back after being killed off at the end of the third season, and Jeremy came back from the dead during the fourth season. Many of the characters have now been turned into vampires to escape death. Some of the only characters that have remained dead are those that were never really main characters to start with, and simply supporting roles to tell the stories of the teenagers in Mystic Falls. In a world with magic, vampires and werewolves, anything is really possible.

Most of these shows have also been around longer than HBO’s Game of Thrones, and have had fans panicking and annoyed with decisions in the past. Supernatural fans were left wondering how Dean was going to come back to life at the end of the third season, and panicked that he would never be saved from the deal he made at the end of the second season. Charmed fans panicked that their favorite sister would die at the end of the third season, when one of the characters was permanently killed off. Greys Anatomy fans were left heartbroken after Lexie was killed at the end of season eight, and knowing that Mark was likely to die at the start of the ninth season. Shows tend to leave fans guessing, and it leaves many of those who have favorite characters panicking when they could have to say goodbye. Game of Thrones does not have fans of The Vampire Diaries or other shows panicking over their characters’ deaths. The idea of not knowing what the writers ever have in mind is the reason for the panic.